Method and apparatus for turning welts of full fashioned stocking machines



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 HOWIE M METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TURNING WEIJTS Filed Nov. 10,

OF FULL FASHIONED STOCKING MACHINES UMLMM 31 159M5 5 W 3% 193%.. KHOVWE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TURNING WELTS OF FULL FASHIONED STOCKING MACHINES Filed Nov. 10, 1955 K. HOWlE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TURNING WEIJTS OF FULL FASHIONED STOCKING MACHINES Filed Nov. 10, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 lump/rm Z EQWMMMW 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet A K. HOWIE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TURNING WELTS OF FULL FASHIONED STOCKING MACHINES Filed Nov. 10,

M A; A 3 11 9 11 0 11 31, 1K. HOWHE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TURNING WELTS OF FULL FASHIONED STOCKING MACHINES 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed NOV. 10,

Patented Mar. 31, 1936 WELTS F FULL MACHINES FASHIONED STOCKING Kenneth Howie, Norristown, Pa., assignor to Wildman Mfg. 00., Norristown, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 10, 1933, Serial N0. 697,519, 2'! Claims. (Cl. 66-96) i0 mechanism hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the relative positions of the needles, sinkers and knock-over bits when the welt bar is first insorted to receive the initial course.

Fig. 2 shows the welt hooks about to receive the stitch from the nose of the sinker; also it shows in dotted lines at the left the position of the welt,

20 bar after the desired length of fabric has been knit to provide for the welt. The rest or holder to subsequently receive the welt bar is also shown in its lowermost or idle position.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing in dotted lines at the left the welt bar as having been reversed in position by the operator, and it also shows at the right the position of the welt bar when carried .back by the hand of the operator and placed in the rests or holders which now have been automatically raised to position for receiving said welt bar.

Figs. 4, 5, 6, '1, 8, and 9 show the parts in the difierent positions assumed by them at difierent points in the method of operation.

Figs. 5a and 6a are details.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the welt as having -been completely turned and the needles restored to vertical position for resuming knitting.

Fig. 11 is a vertical sectional view from front to rear of the machine showing enough of the structure to illustrate the application of my invention thereto.

Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic plan view of enough parts of the machine to illustrate the incorporation of my improvement into a single unit machine of the general form disclosed in application for Letters Patent of the United States men'- tioned.

Fig. 13 is a sectional view of a welt bar with its hooks.

Fig. 14 is a plan view of the welt bar without the hooks.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged bottom plan view of a welt hook member.

Fig. 16 shows sections on lines m--r, z-z, v-v, y-y, of Fig. 15.

Figs. l7, l8 and 19 are detail views of welt bar holders.

In these drawings, the needles of the straight row are indicated at l, the sinkers at 2, the knockover bits at 3'. The needles are carried by a bar 4 mounted on brackets, one of whichis shown at 5 pivotally mounted at t. A depending arm l connected to the pivoted bracket is pivotally connected to a hand lever B which, at its rear end, is provided with several notches 9, ill, to engage a pin H on the lever My, which is pivotally mounted at lire. The lower end of this lever carries a roller Mar: to be operated by a cam. its: on the main cam shaft a of the machine, so that the needle bar is swung about the pivot axis at 6, as in ordinary practice, in forming stitches.

The needle bar is given an upand down movement, as in ordinary practice, by a lever and a cam la: on the main cam shaft.

The turning of the welt is performed by a welt bar A. This has welt hooks b in the stems oi which are the eyes or grooves b on the side of the stem opposite to that on which the hooks lie. This elongated eye or groove extends from the forward edge of the bar to a point a little short of the middle length of the stem, and it overlies a portion of the bar. The stems of the welt hooks are thick in the region of the eye, and for a distance forward of the eye, up to the point b in Figs. 13 and 15, from which point the stem. narrows down to the point D where it is thin from side to side and continues of this thinness to the hook.

After a stocking is completed and pressed on;

the machine makes several idle strokes to efiect the yarn change, and to lay the welt yarn across the needles for a partial course, whereupon the machine stops automatically. The operator turns the machine by hand to complete this initial course, bringing the stitch onto the nose of the sinker, this being done on the downward stroke of the needle, and before going to knockover bits. The welt bar is now inserted in place with its hooks between the needles horizontally, and between the sinkers and knockover bits vertically. See the position marked 111 Figs. 1 and 2. The machine is now turned by'hand to bring the stitches onto the welt hooks, whereupon the tension straps are attached to the bar as'in ordinary practice. The machine is now operated under power, and the welt section of the fabric is knit, and the machine is then stopped automatically. The position of the welt bar at this time is indie bring the needles up to the cated in Fig. 2 in dotted lines at the left of the figure at p.

The machine is now turned over by hand to sinker nose, and the operator now operates the hand lever 8 to release the notch 9 from the pin ii and set the notch it) into engagement with the pin. the needle bar into inclined position with the needles inclining forwardly and upwardly, as in Fig. 3, to near the end of the sinker nose and between-the sinkers and dividers, the top of the needle being just below the upper edge of the sinker nose.

The welt bar is now turned over into the position p shown at the left of Fig. 3, and the loops assume positions on the stems of the hooks close to the edge of the welt bar. The welt bar is now carried by the hand of the operator and turned to the position 9 Fig. 3, and placed with its reduced end portions a Fig. 14, in the now elevated rests or holders i 2, one for each end of the welt bar. These rests or holders for the welt bar were raised automatically from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the positions indicated in Fig. 3 at the time the machine automatically stopped at the completion of knitting of the length of fabric intended for the welt, as will be hereinafter described, the time of elevation of said rests being controlled by pattern mechanism.

It will be understood that take-up rod l3 was placed across the fabric as in ordinary practice before the welt bar was shifted by hand from the position 21 to the dotted line position 1) just mentioned. The pockets orrests I2 have upwardly diverging front and back walls I21: and IR: forming stop means. The lefthand rest or support has an outer end wall He fixed to and extending between the front and rear walls so as to form a rigid stop or bearing for the face of the lefthand end of the welt bar to accurately determine the leftward lengthwise position of said bar, to thus locate the bar with its hooks in proper relation to go in between the sinkers and dividers for proper alignment with the needles in the transfer of stitches carried by the welt hooks to the said needles.

The righthand rest or holder, Fig. 12, to receive the righthand end of the welt bar is formed with front and back walls like the stop means on the rest first mentioned, but the righthand or outer end wall of this righthandrest or holder is in the form of a leaf spring l2d which, when the operator places the welt bar in the rests or holders will yieldingly press upon the righthand end of the welt bar to press said bar leftward, and thus insure that said bar will be seated with its lefthand end against the rigid end wall I 20 of the lefthand socket or rest l2 to thus accurately locate the bar in its proper initial relation to the sinkers, dividers and needles, ready to be advanced or lowered thereto, it being noted that when initially placed in the rests these are in elevated position, as shown in Fig. 3, from which position the rests yield and move down to the position shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, when the operator presses the welt bar downwardly for the stitch transferring operation. Spring lZd has an inclined guiding end.

The rests or welt bar receiving pockets are open on their inner sides and each is provided with a bottom wall upon which the front edge of the reduced ends of the welt bar rest to have tilting or rocking movement thereon under the manipulation of the hand of the operator. This bottom wall is the curved portion I 2 between This throws the lower ends of the convergent front and back walls. It provides a socket in which the rounded front edge a of the reduced end portion of the welt bar rests and pivots. In placing the welt bar in the supporting pocket or rest it is first made to lie against the front walls of the pockets or holders as in Fig. 3 with the front edges of the end portions of the bar resting on,the bottom of the said supports or holders. The operator now exerts downward pressure upon the bar which swings it together with the holders or rests downwardly about the pivotal mounting i3 oi the holders or rests until the stops II on the pivoted arms I 2c of the rests contact the stops IS on the frame. This determines the proper position of the welt hooks between the sinkers and dividers which act as walls between said hooks to guide them when the welt bar is swung in its socket, in order that the eyes or grooves will engage the upper ends of the needles which lie in the forwardly inclined position above mentioned, with their upper ends between the sinkers and dividers near the ends of the noses of the sinkers and just below the upper edges thereof. Because the holders or rests swing downwardly along a prescribed path, the operator need give no special care to this operation, the movement being so controlled by the pivotal mounting of the rests or holders that the welt hooks will pass down between the sinkers and dividers on the beard side of the needles and will, with accuracy, assume the inclined position shown in Fig. 4 with the eyes of the hooks close to the upper ends of the needles and in line therewith.

The operator now, by pressing upon the uppermost edge of the weltflbar, turns or swings it in the holder or socket, the lower edge of the reduced end extensions of the bar serving as the pivots, and this brings the welt hook from the position p of Fig. 4 into the position p shown in Fig. 5 with the eye or groove in the stem of the welt hook over the top of the spring beard needle, and with the beard lying in the eye or groove, it being noted that the loop is now located on the stem of the hook close to the edge of the welt bar, and just above the upper end of the needle.

In this action, like in the positioning of the hooks in Fig. 4, the operator does not need to exercise extraordinary skill, because the rest or holders maintain the prescribed alignment of the hooks with the needles during the swinging movement just mentioned.

The operator, by continuing the pressure of her hand upon the welt bar with the rests or holder members, in their lowermost positions regulated by the stops i4, IS. The machine is now turned by hand to move the needles to their advanced, or high, position,

The position of the parts at this time, i. e., with the needle advanced, is shown in Fig. 6, the upper end of the needle with its beard lying in the groove or eye in the stem of the welt hook, and said parts being substantially in parallel relation to each other and close together. The welt bar held by the operator has been raised from the socket or holder to the position 1)".

The operator now pushes the fabric down over the needle as far as the hooks of the welt bar will permit. The welt bar is next raised by the operator against the stop i6 as in Fig. 7. This stop conveniently may be located on the picot bar l1 which is pivotally mounted on the narrowing frame, as shown in application for Letters maintains it, together v the hand of the operator to of the welt hook will also be raised to a level' above the needles, and the heard no longer will be in the eye of the welt hook, so that the operation of swinging the welt bar forwardly and downwardly from the elevated position 11 Fig. 7, to the position shown in dotted lines at 1), Fig. 7, will cause the hooksto be passed through the spaces between the needles while still engaging the loops of the fabric. In this action the thin portions of the stems of the welt hooks'near their free ends thereof play a part because of the facility with which these thin portions pass between the needles from rear to front of the needle row.

In the actions just described, the stop it plays the part of means to mechanically determine the extent to which the welt bar is to be raised in order to get the welt hooks in proper relation to the bearded needles with the thick part in which the eye is formed above the needle. The operator is relieved of the close concentration which otherwise would be necessary. It may be mentioned here that in the method thus far described, the operations are guided or controlled by mechanical means, i. e., by the rests or receiving sockets for the welt bar working along a prescribed course, and by the stops it, it, and it, so that at all points when the operator would otherwise be required to exercise a high degree of care and skill, these mechanical devices will insure accurate carrying out of the intended movements performed by the operator.

The next step in the operation is that the operator moves the welt bar bodily downward so that the hooks will carry the loops well below the beards of the needles. This position is shown at p Fig. 8. The next step is that the operator will raise the welt bar to the position 1)" of Fig. 8 to lift the fabric up under the needle beards.

The movement of the welt bar is continued by v the dotted line position 10 of Fig. 8 and then backwardly and downwardly to the position 10 of Fig. 9, whereupon the hooks are removed from the loops which remain within the beards of the needles. The next action is that the operator pushes the fabric down along the needle stems to the top of the lrnockover bits. Thereafter the needle bar is restored to vertical knitting position by means of the hand lever 8 connected with the needle bar organization. In this action, the said hand lever is manipulated so that its notch d of the lever again engages the pin l i. I 11-.

This final position of the fabric in turning the welt is indicated in Fig. 10 wherein the doubled fabric lays on the lmockover bits and with both sets of loops at the ends of the fabric on the needles ready to proceed with the regular knitting of the leg. This figure also shows that the needle has been restored from its inclined position shown in dotted lines which it occupies in turning the welt, to the upright position for knitting, this resetting of the needles being due to manipulating the hand lever t, as above mentioned.

The arms Me which carry the rests or guides it for the welt bar extend forwardly and downwardly and are connected to a rock shaft i3 extending across the machine near the front thereof.

This rock shaft has an arm i8 thereon which is engaged by an arm i9 on a second rock shaft 20 extending parallel with the first mentioned rock shaft, and, like it, journaled in the machine frame. This last mentioned rock shaft has an arm 2| thereon connected by a link 22 to a lever 23 operated by pattern mechanism indicated generally at B, Fig. 11, but as this pattern mechanism forms no part of the novelty in this invention, it is not shown in detail.

Figs. 1 and 11 show the rests orholders for the welt bar in their inactive or lowered positions.

When a stud 24 on the pattern drum raises the lever 23 and link 22, the rock shaft 20 will be turned to cause the arms i9 and Hi to turn the shaft 13', and thus lift the rests or holders to their elevated positions for receiving the welt bar, as indicated in Fig. 3. When so raised, the rests or guides l2 are detained in this position by a detent 25 engaging a notch in a member 26 connected with one of the arms Me, or suitably connected with rock shaft l3 The detent will thus hold the rock shaft in the position to which it has been turned by the pattern mechanism and with the rest or holder H2 in elevated position. As before stated, the operator, in turning the welt, places the welt bar in these rests, as shown in Fig. 3.

When the operator presses down on the welt bar, now seated in the rests, to move it from the position of Fig. 3 to the positions of Figs. 4 and 5, the rests will go down with the bar, but under some restraint of the spring detent 25, action, will recede from the V-shaped notch and ride on the segmental member 26.

When, therefore, the rests are down, the detent will be out of, the V-shaped notch, as shown in Fig. 2, but when the pattern mechanism raises the rest or support, as shown in Fig. 3, thedetent will engage the V notch and detain the rest in elevated position until pressure is exerted by the hand of the operator upon the welt bar to press it down to cover the needles.

It will be seen from the above that the rests or holders l2 act as guiding or controlling means for the welt bar during the manual carrying out of which, in this the method of turning the welt, as described herein.

When placed in the elevated rests or holders, Fig. 3, the welt bar is positioned by the walls of the rests, so that the welt hooks will be in position to go down between the sinkers and dividers, as in Fig. 4, and to make the eyes of the welt hooks take positions in registry with the tops of the needles, ready to cover and embrace said needles at their upper ends. Furthermore, because the downward movement ofthe rests is limited by the stops M, iii, the eyes of the welt hooks will be brought to a level to engage the upper ends of the needles. When the welt bar is given further manipulation, i. e., turned on what is now its lower edge, the welt bar still will be under the guidance or control of the rests, which will determine the arc in which the hooks swin and. their registry with the needles.

The operator thus can perform the weit turning operation rapidly, because only minimum care and attention is required, despite the fact that the movements must be performed with accuracy. 50, too, in lifting the welt bar by hand from the holder or guide to the position of Fig. 7 the sop it will determine the upward limit of the movement so as to get the welt hooks and their stems in the exact position relative to the needles for the subsequent actions illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, whereby welt bar hooks are freed from the loops and leave said loops on the needles ready for resumption of regular knitting.

The machine to which this improvement is particularly applicable is a single head machine. That is to say, a' machine that produces only one full fashioned stocking section.

By reason, therefore, of the machine having only one needle row, and only one set of mechanism for making a single garment or section, the turning of the welt is possible by the joint action of the hand of the operator, and the mechanism which is also controlled by the hand of the operator during the welt turning. The method is such that the hand of the operator in the manipulation of the welt bar is employed at the approximate time that the machine is manually operated.

- The machine has been described with the needles disposed vertically.

The terms raised" and lowered", while applicable to this disposition of the needles, are used for convenience and not as limitations upon the scope of the invention.

They are meant to designate the advanced and retracted relation of the parts, whether the machine be of the type in which needles are disposed substantially vertically, or otherwise.

It will be noticed that when placed in the holder, the welt bar is exposed to be manipulated by the band of the operator, who first applies suificient downward pressure to move the welt bar to its proper relation to the sinkers and needles as shown in Fig. 4, and thereafter the operator, who has maintained contact with the welt bar, gives the same its pivotal movement, without removing her hand therefrom.

The needles and immediately associated parts are of substantially ordinary form and are operated in the usual manner in performing their knitting functions.

By reference to the diagrammatic drawings, Figs. 1 to 10, the changes in the relative positions of the sinkers and needles at the various steps in the method of operation, and also the positions of these parts relative to the fixed knockover bits, will be made clear. For instance, the sinkers in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 occupy a more advanced position in respect to the positions of the sinkers in Figs. 1 and 2, and Figs. 6 to 10 illustrate that the snkers have been retracted further than in Fig. 1, this last mentioned retraction being done by turning the machine over by hand. Likewise, the positions of the needles and sinkers shown in Fig. 4 and 5 are attained by the operator turning the machine over by hand after the machine automaticaliy stops at the termination of the knitting of the welt section of the fabric. In performing this operation by hand, the operator stops when the needle has assumed the position shown in Fig. 3 at the nose of the sinker, instead of, as in ordinary practlce, continuing the action so as to advance the needle to a level considerably above the sinkers.

I claim:

1. Welt turning apparatus for full fashioned knitting machines comprising supporting means adjacent the needles for receiving and supporting the welt bar removably, said supporting means being provided with means whereby said bar accurately will be positioned lengthwise and in the proper angular position relative to said supporting means with its hooks pointing towards and in line with the spaces between the sinkers and dividers, and in line with the needles, said supports being movable relative to the needles topass the hooks between the sinkers and dividers on the beard side of the needles while maintained by said positioning means in the prescribed angular relation to the supporting means, said supporting means providing a bearing on which the welt bar may pivot by hand to move the hooks with their eye portions to cover and receive the upper ends of the needles, substantially as described.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the supporting means for the welt bar includes two members, one for each end portion of welt bar pivotaliy mounted on a fixed axis, and each having a part of the pivot bearing.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the supporting means for the welt bar includes two members, one for each end portion of welt bar, and each having a part of the pivot bearing, said members each having a wall above said pivot bearing against which the inserted welt bar rests to determine the angular position thereof and direct the hook onto the bearded side of the needle.

4. Apparatus for turning welts in a full fashioned stocking machine comprising a pivotable welt bar having a surface non-concentric with its axis of pivotal movement, supporting means for the welt bar comprising two members, one for 5. Apparatus for turning welts in full fashic-ned stocking machines comprising a pair of rests or holders for welt bars, each composed of upwardly diverging front and rear walls with a pivot bearing between the convergent lower parts of said walls on which the welt bar may turn by bearing with its edge thereon, each member being open on the inner side which faces the other member, each member having an outer end wall on which the end of the welt bar bears to thereby determine the lengthwise position of the welt bar relative to the needles, the end her exerting spring pressure upon the welt bar to press it lengthwise against the unyielding end wall of the other member.

6. Welt turning apparatus for full fashioned knitting machines comprising supporting means for the welt turning bar adapted to removably receive said welt bar from the hand of the operator, said supporting means having bearings with which the ends of the welt bar engage to establish the proper position of the welt bar rela- .t.

tive to the needles, said supporting means having a bearing on which the said supporting means holding the bar exposed to the hand of the operator tive pressure to swing said bar on said bearing, said supporting means being yieldingly mounted and receding downwardly under presbar, independently of any movement of the needles substantially as described.

7. Apparatus for turning the welt in full fashioned knitting machines comprising means for receiving a welt bar removably, and for supporting the same with its hooks directed towards the space between the sinkers and dividers on the bearded side of the needles, said support being yieldingly carried by a fixed pivotal mounting on the machine whereby the welt bar will move towards the needles and sinkers in a fixed path under the force of the operators hand applied to end of the welt bar will bear wall of one memthe welt bar, to locate the welt hooks in saidspace on the beared side of said needle and between the sinkers and dividers, said supporting means having a bearing on which the welt bar may pivot when turned by pressure from the operators hand maintained in contact with said welt bar following its movement to the needles and sinkers.

8. Apparatus of the character described comprising holding means or rests held yieldingly in a plane above the needles and sinkers for removably receiving a welt bar spaced apart from the needles, said rest being guided to carry the welt bar downwardly and rearwardly relative to the needles to locate its welt hooks with their stems at an inclination to the needles and with the eyes therein adjacent the ends of the needles, said holding means having a pivot bearing on which the welt bar may turn under pressure of the operators hand to swing the welt hooks towards the needles and make the eyes receive the nose and beards of the needles, substantially as described;

9. Apparatus of the class described comprising a roster support for the welt bar holding the same removably, pivotally mounted carrier means for said rest, means for operating said carrier means automatically to elevate the rest to a position above the level of the needles, and forward of the same for receiving the welt bar for turning the welt, said carrier means being movable downwardly under pressure of the operators hand, and moving the welt bar within an arc downwardly and rearwardly relative to the needles to carry the welt hooks over and to the beard side of the needles, said rest supporting the welt bar pivotally so that the operator may swing the same about its lowerledge to make the eyes of the welt hooks cover the needle ends, substantially as described.

10. Apparatus of the class described comprising a. rest or holder for the welt bar, means for automatically raising said rest to a level above the needles to receive the welt bar from the hand of the operator, detent means for retaining the rest in its elevated position temporarily, until the welt bar is moved downwardly under pressure of the operators hand, stop means for arresting the downwardly moving holder, with the welt hooks in the prescribed relation to the needles, said welt bar pivoting on the rest or holder when turned by the operator to swing the stems of the welt hooks to receive the'needles in their eyes or grooves, stop means to arrest the upward movement of the welt bar when raised from the rest by the hand of the operator to determine the position of the welt hooks relative to the needles for the ensuing movements of the welt bar to release its hooks from the fabric and leave it on the needles, substantially as described.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 in which the stop means last mentioned is on the picot bar, substantially as described.

l2. Welt turning apparatus for a full fashioned knitting machine comprising a welt bar, rests for supporting said bar with its hooks in line with the spaces between the sinkers and dividers and in line with the needles, said rests when in welt bar receiving position being elevated above the needles, means for supporting the rests to yield under pressure of the operators hand, and to move the hooks down between the sinkers and dividers on the bearded side of the needles,

means for stopping the downward movement of the rests to locate the eyes of the hooks adjacent and opposite the upper ends of the needles, said described.

13. In apparatus of the class described, a pair of rests or support for a welt turning bar of a full fashioned stocking knitting machine, one of said rests being near each end of the needle row, a carrier arm for each rest, a rock shaft carrying said arms, a connection between said rock shaft and a pattern drum for automatically raising said rests to'position for receiving the welt bar from the hand of the operator, friction restraining means to retain said rests in their elevated position, said rests yielding downwardly under pressure from the hand of the operator to move the welt hooks into cooperative relation to the needle for placing the welt fabric on the needles, substantially as described.

14-. Apparatus of the class described comprising means for supporting a welt bar when placed thereon by hand, said means being movable manually and carrying the welt hooks downwardly over and at an inclination to the needles between the sinkers and dividers at the bearded side of the needles, means for forwardly inclining the needles with their upper ends between the outermost ends of the sinkers and dividers at the nose thereof, said supporting means affording bears ings upon which the welt bar may pivot to swing the welt hooks forwardly to receive the ends of the forwardly inclined needles in their eyes, substantially as described.

'15. Apparatus according to claim 14 in which the supporting means is pivoted at the front and below the level of the sinkers to swing downwardly and. rearwardly, substantially as described.

16.. The hereindescribed steps in a method of turning the welt in the making of a full fashioned stocking consisting in moving the needles to locate their ends between the sinkers and dividers, moving the welt bar to locate its hooks between the sinkers and dividers on the bearded side of the needles and with the eyes or grooves of the stems of said hooks adjacent the needle ends, turning the welt bar to make the eye or grooved portions of the stems cover and embrace the needle ends, advancing the needles to a point above the level of the sinkers, pushing the fabric down on the welt hooks to a level below the needle beards, raising the welt bar to bring the hooks adjacent the level of the beards, moving the welt bar to carry the welt hooks between the needles from the bearded side to the opposite side thereof, then freeing the welt hooks from the fabric and leaving it on the needles,

substantially as described.

17. In a method of turning the welt in the making of a full fashioned stocking the steps consisting in moving the needles into forwardly inclined position with their ends between the to free its hooks from the fabric and leave it on the needles, substantially as described. 1 18. The following steps, in a method of turning the welt in the making of a full fashioned stocking,'consisting inlocating the upper ends of the needles between the sinkers and dividers and approximately at the levelv of the upper edge of the sinker nose, locating the welt hooks in between the sinkers and dividers, and with the eyes or grooves of the stems of the hooks covering and receiving the needle ends, advancing the needles, with their ends above the level of the sinkers and raising the welt bar to maintain the engagement of the needles with the eyes of the hooks, pushing the fabric down to a level below the needle beards and moving the welt bar to free its hooks from the fabric, leaving it on the needles, substantially as described.

19. Apparatus for turning welts in a full fashioned stocking machine in which supporting means for the welt bar comprises two members, one for each end of the welt bar, each member having a pivot bearing for the welt bar and stop means against which the welt bar rests in initial position with its hooks directed towards the space between the press bar and needles, each member having an end wall against which the end of the welt bar will bear to determine the lengthwise position of the bar so the hooks will enter between the sinkers and dividers in line with the needles, one end wall being under spring pressure to force the welt bar against the rigid wall of the other member.

v20. Apparatus of the character described comprising holding means for receiving a welt bar removably spaced apart from the needles, said holding means being yieldingly mounted and guided to locate its welt hooks with their stems at an inclination to the needles and with the eyes therein adjacent the ends of the needles, said holding means having a pivot bearing on which the welt bar may turn under pressure of the operators hand to swing the welt hooks towards the needles and make the eyes receive the nose and beards of the needles, the rest or support having a bearing surface at an upward and forward inclination to hold the welt bar initially in an inclined position relative to the needles and with the welt hooks pointed to the rear.

21. Apparatus of the class described comprising a rest or support for a. welt, bar, means for automatically elevating said rest to a position above the level of the needles to receive the welt bar from the hand of the operator, said rest being returnable to its low position under pressure of the operators hand to move the welt hooks to the needles, and detent means retaining the holder in elevated position until downward pressure of the hand of theoperator is applied.

22. Welt turning apparatus for full fashioned,

knitting machines comprising a pair of spaced apart supports one adjacent each end of the needle row for receiving and supporting the welt bar removably, each support having a pivot bearing for a part of the welt bar and each support having a portion forming a stop located above its pivotal bearing to initially position the welt bar with its hooks extending in inclined position relative to the plane in which the needles lie, said supports being turnable about a common fixed axis.

23. A welt turning apparatus for full fashioned knitting machines comprising a pair of spaced apart supports, one adjacent each end of the needle row, arms carrying said supports extending downwardly and forwardly therefrom and pivotally mounted at their forward ends on a common axis located below the plane of movement of the welt bar as it is drawn away from the needles in forming the fabric to be turned into a welt, each of said supports having a surface forming a pivot bearing for a welt bar freely placeable upon and removable from said pivot surfaces by hand, each of said supports having stop means for determining the angular position of said welt bar about said pivotal surfaces to initially position the welt bar. with its hooks in inclined relation to the plane in which the needles lie, said support being yieldingly mounted to be forced downwardly under pressure from the operator's hand applied to the weltbar.

24. A welt turning appliance for full fashioned knitting machines comprising a pair of rests located forward to and above the level of the needles, one for each end of the welt bar, each having a pivot bearing on which: the welt bar may be turned by hand, and each having a stop for initially holding the welt bar in position with its hooks inclining downwardly and rearwardly towards the bearded side of the needles, means for guiding the rests downwardly and rearwardly when manual pressure is exerted upon the welt bar, to carry the said welt hooks down between the sinkers and dividers, stop means for limiting the downward movement of the rests, said welt bar while supported by the rests at the limit of downward movement being turnable on its pivot bearings by hand to set the welt hooks in prescribed relation to the needles.

25. Apparatus for turning the welt in a full fashioned knitting machine comprising a rest mounted for movement relative to the needle row and having a bearing to pivotally and removably receive a welt bar, means for yieldingly supporting said rest in a plane above theneedles and sinkers and yielding under pressure of the operator's hands to permit movement of the welt bar downwardly and rearwardly relatively to the needles and sinkers and dispose the welt hooks upon the beard side of the needles, and means for causing said rest to take said prescribed path of movement.

26. Apparatus of the class described for knitting mechanism comprising a movably mounted rest or holder for a welt turning bar said rest having a bearing surface on which said bar may have pivotal movement under pressure of the operators hand, and means operated in timed relation to the knitting mechanism for moving said rest relative to the needles into an elevated position in which the operator may freely place the welt bar by hand upon said bearing surface with the welt hooks apart from the needles, substantially as described.

27. Apparatus of the class described for knitting mechanism comprising a movably mounted rest or support for removably receiving a welt bar, means operated in timed relation to the knitting mechanism for elevating said rest relative to the needles to a position above the level of the needles to receive the welt bar from the hand of the operator, said rest being returnable to its low position under pressure of the operators hand to move the welt hooks to the needles, substantially as described.

KENNETH HOWIE. 

